Arthur Mellen Wellington

Arthur Mellen Wellington (December 20, 1847 – May 17, 1895) he married Agnes Bates, and they had two children. Wellington was a descendant of Roger Wellington, an early settler of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636 and Benjamin Wellington. While his work with Henck took place during the American Civil War, he studied mechanical engineering and passed the examination for an assistant engineer in the United States Navy but with the end of the War, never received an appointment.

Famous Quotation The famous quotation, 'An engineer can do for a dollar what any fool can do for two," is a shortened version of this statement below, which appears in the introduction to his magnum opus, "The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways," published in 1877:

"It would be well if engineering were less generally thought of, and even defined, as the art of constructing. In a certain important sense it is rather the art of not constructing; or, to define it rudely but not inaptly, it is the art of doing that well with one dollar, which any bungler can do with two after a fashion."

Death Wellington died on May 17, 1895, from heart failure following surgery in Manhattan, New York City, at age 47.

Partial bibliography

and revised through six editions with the last published in 1910 by Wellington's wife, Agnes Wellington.

Wellington was chief engineer in charge of the 1881 survey. See also

Legacy In 1921, the American Society of Civil Engineers instituted a prize, the Arthur M. Wellington Prize , in response to a proposal by the Engineering News-Record, which had endowed the award in honor of Wellington who was a former editor and part proprietor of Engineering News. In 1979, the then-named American Institute of Industrial Engineers, (now Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers or IISE) created the Wellington Award in honor of his work in engineering economy to recognize "...contributions and service in the field of engineering economy that enhance the visibility of the engineering economy division of IISE." Its first four recipients were Eugene L. Grant (1979), Arthur Lesser Jr (1980), W. Grant Ireson (1981) and H.G. Thuesen (1982). His book The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways was first published in 1877 by the Railroad Gazette and John Wiley New York. The subtitle was An analysis of the conditions which govern the judicious adjustment of gradients, curvature, and length of line to each other, and the character and volume of traffic. The 5th edition had the subtitle An analysis of the conditions controlling the laying out of railways to effect the most judicious expenditure of capital. He indicated the importance of the ruling gradient and its effect on train loads and running costs. By 1910 it was in its 6th edition and had also been printed in London.